Be Yourself
by fantasticxfoursome
Summary: Dan and Phil's son has always talked about boys, ever since he was younger. He surprises his parents when he brings home a girl one day and introduces her as his girlfriend. Dan and Phil knows something is up and they want to get to the bottom of it.


"Phil, what are we having for dinner?" Dan Howell-Lester asked as he walked into the kitchen, where his husband was at. Dan looked up and smiled when he saw Phil standing in front of the fridge, staring into it. Dan walked over to Phil and wrapped his arms around him.

Phil jumped as soon as he felt Dan's arm wrap around his waist. "Dan!" He gasped with shock. "Jesus Christ, don't scare me like that." He said. He closed his eyes when Dan started kissing his neck.

It was a Friday afternoon, Dan and Phil were waiting for their son to come home from school, which he would be in about an hour. They always looked forward to weekends because it was family time. Their son, Joshua Landon Lester, was always busy with school work so they couldn't really do anything on the weekends. Joshua was only 15-years-old, and Dan and Phil adopted him when he was 7-years-old. They fell in love with him as soon as they saw him.

"Dan-" Phil groaned as Dan continued to kiss his neck.

Dan smirked, and he finally stopped kissing Phil's neck. "So, what are we having for dinner?"

"I don't know. We seem to not have any food in our house... ever," Phil said as he shut the fridge. He turned around and looked at Dan, and smiled. "What do you want? I mean... we could order something if you want. Seems to be the better option right now."

"I don't know... maybe we should wait until Josh comes home?" Dan asked.

"That would probably be best," Phil agreed. He laughed.

Dan stepped closer to Phil and smiled as he wrapped his arms around Phil's neck. "We still have an hour until the boy gets home. Just pointing that out..." He whispered.

Phil chuckled. "The boy? He has a name Dan," he said.

"Oh, you're ruining the moment!" Dan whined, rolling his eyes. He reached up and then he kissed Phil a few times, smiling when he pulled away. "Bedroom?"

"Bedroom." Phil whispered, nodding. He reached over and he grabbed Dan's hand and then he dragged him out of the kitchen and led the way to their bedroom.

An hour passed; Dan and Phil were sitting in the living room and were cuddled up on the couch, waiting for their son to come home. They knew he would be home any minute.

"Dad?" Dan looked up as soon as he heard his sons voice. Joshua always called him 'dad' and he always called Phil 'Pa' because it got too confusing when he called them both dad. Phil didn't mind it though. He kind of liked when Joshua called him that.

"In the living room!" Dan called back. He sighed as he pushed himself up off of Phil. He looked over and smiled when he saw Josh walk into the living room, but was a little surprised when he saw that Josh had a girl with him. Josh never brought home girls. "Oh, hello."

"Who's your friend?" Phil asked, also sitting up.

Josh bit his lip as he looked over at the girl before he looked back at his parents. "Actually... this is Lexie and she uhm... she's not my friend. She's my _girlfriend_," he said. He reached over and grabbed her hand, but Dan and Phil could tell that he was very uncomfortable.

"Girlfriend?" Dan asked as he glanced at Phil before he looked back at Josh. "But, I thought you were...? Oh, nevermind. As long as you're happy. It's very nice to meet you Lexie."

"And you as well. Josh has told me so much about you. My mum used to watch your videos a couple years ago and she was like in love with you guys," Lexie said.

"Oh really? Wow. I thought people had forgotten about us," Phil joked. He laughed.

"Nope. I know quite a few people who still watch your videos," Lexie said.

"We'd love to make more videos if we could but... then we brought this one home and all of that changed," Dan said, looking over at Josh and smirking slightly.

Josh's cheeks turned bright red as he looked up at his dad. "Dad!" He groaned.

Dan laughed. "Okay well... would you like to stay for dinner Lexie?" He asked.

"I actually can't stay long. I have to get home," Lexie said.

"Alright then." Dan said. He looked over at Phil and raised his eyebrows.

It was a couple hours later when Dan and Phil finally ordered pizza.

"Joshua! Pizza's here!" Dan called from the kitchen. He giggled when Phil walked behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Phil." Dan whispered.

"What?" Phil whispered as he held onto Dan. "Can I not hug my own husband?"

"I'm not opposed to that." Dan said. He looked up at Phil and smiled.

Josh sighed as he walked into the kitchen. He looked up and then he rolled his eyes when he saw his parents. "You two sicken me sometimes." He said, shaking his head.

Phil looked over and immediately looked over when he saw Josh. "Ah, don't be jealous. One day you'll find someone and you'll be doing the exact same thing."

"I already found someone, thank you very much," Josh said.

"Speaking of her... um, when did that happen?" Phil asked.

"Yeah... since when did you become interested in girls?" Dan asked.

"Wh-What do you mean? I'm 15, dad. It was going to happen eventually," Josh said.

"But... you've never talked about liking girls. Ever since you were little... when we brought you home, all you ever talked about was how much you liked boys," Phil said.

"And we are completely okay with that... obviously," Dan quickly added.

"I was little back then, okay? I didn't know what I was thinking and I've grown up. You two may be gay with each other but that doesn't mean I have to be gay," Josh said.

"What? W-We never said that's what you had to be," Dan said, a little shocked.

"Can I just get my pizza please?" Josh asked, getting more annoyed at the situation.

"Fine." Dan said, crossing his arms against his chest. Dan didn't know what was going on with his son but he knew that something was up... and he needed to get down to the bottom of what was going on. This was not his son, and he wanted his old son back.

Phil looked over at Dan and frowned when he saw the look on his face. "Dan," He rested his hand on his back and gently rubbed it. "We'll talk later." Phil whispered.

Dan ignored Phil and watched as Josh grabbed his pizza and then left the kitchen.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on with him?" Dan asked, finally looking over at Phil again.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, looking right back at Dan.

"We both know that Joshua has never been interested in girls. I know he's growing up but seriously... he's the most flamboyant boy I've ever known!" Dan said.

"Dan!" Phil said with shock. "I know what you're saying but... it's his choice and we just gotta respect that. So, don't do anything stupid," he warned. "I mean it."

Dan shook his head. "No... I can't just let this go," he said. He sighed as he turned around and started putting his pizza on his own plate. "I don't care if he's straight but... I just know that something is going on with him, and I need to find out what it is."

"Dan." Phil said. He sighed and shook his head, though he decided to remained silent because he knew that there was no point in arguing with Dan. His mind was made up.

Dan and Phil finished eating their pizza and almost as soon as they were finished, they went up to Josh's bedroom. They were both curious about what was going on in Josh's life. Josh usually kept quiet about what was going on in his life. Dan knew that something was wrong, he could just feel it, and he wanted to make sure that Josh was really okay.

"Josh?" Dan asked as he knocked on Josh's door once they reached his bedroom.

"Dan, should we be doing this?" Phil asked as he stood next to Dan.

"Yes... we need to know what's really going on. We both know he's hiding something," Dan said as he looked over at Phil. "And it's not just something small either."

"I guess you're right. Something big is going on," Phil said.

"Come in!" Josh finally yelled from inside the room.

Dan sighed in relief and then he finally pushed open the door, he and Phil walked into Josh's bedroom. "Hey kiddo. We just wanted to make sure you're okay," Dan said.

Josh was currently sitting on his bed with his laptop beside him. He looked up from his laptop screen and looked up at his parents. "Why wouldn't I be okay?" Josh asked calmly.

"Josh-" Phil sighed as he sat down on the bed. "We don't want to be those parents who lecture you about everything but... we know something's up. You looked totally uncomfortable earlier when you had Lexie over. Is something else going on that you're not telling us? You know that you can trust us. We wouldn't judge you for anything." Phil said.

Josh bit his lip nervously as he stared at Phil for a few seconds before he looked down at his hands, not really wanting to tell his parents what was going on, too embarrassed.

"Josh?" Dan asked as he walked beside the bed. "What's going on?"

"You don't really like that girl, do you?" Phil asked quietly.

Josh let out a sigh. "No." He said quietly but loud enough for Dan and Phil to hear him.

"Why would you date her then?" Dan asked calmly.

"Because I had to!" Josh yelled as his eyes began to water up.

"You don't have to be with anyone you don't want to be with," Phil said. "Is this because of something that's going on at school?" He asked nervously.

Josh quickly wipped away a tear that slipped out of his eye. "P-People at school were bullying me because they knew that I was g-gay and I had to do something so people would stop. So I asked Lexie out even though I don't even like her like that!"

"Joshua, why didn't you tell us you were getting bullied?" Dan asked, shocked.

"Well, what was I supposed to say?" He asked as he looked up at Dan, more tears falling out of his eyes. "I can't go to my parents for everything!" He yelled.

"No, but we do care if our son is being bullied," Phil said.

"Me and Phil were both bullied when we were teenagers, just like you, and it isn't fun. We didn't want that to happen to you. We want you to be able to go to school without having to worried about being beat up by some douche bags," Dan said.

"Dan," Phil said as rolled his eyes. "But... your father is right."

"Well, wh-what am I supposed to do?" Josh asked, looking up at his parents.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do... we're going to have you switch schools and we're going to find you a school that will accept you for who you are-" Dan said as he also sat down on the bed. "And if that doesn't work then home school is always an option."

"Dad, I want to actually have friends. I can't spent my whole life trapped in this house," Josh said, rolling his eyes. "I don't care if I have to switch schools though. I hate the school anyways... and clearly the school hates me as well." He mumbled.

"I'm sure that's not true," Phil assured him, giving him a small smile.

"Okay then. It's settled! We'll switch schools for you. So, let's clear this up... you are gay?" Dan asked, smirking slightly as he stared at his son.

"Dad, stop!" Josh groaned as he hid his face in his hands. He sighed as he looked up at his parents. "Yes... I-I am gay." He finally said. "There... I admitted."

"Aha! I knew it... see Phil. I told you he was," Dan said as he looked over at Phil.

"Oh okay. You clearly know our son better than me," Phil said, rolling his eyes.

Dan laughed. "I'm glad we ad this talk though. Joshua, just remember... you can tell us anything, no matter what's going on in your life. We just want to be there for you," Dan said, looking back at his son. He stood up from the bed. "We'll leave you be..." He grabbed Phil's hand and also pulled him up from Josh's bed. "Call for us if you need anything."

"Oh, dad wait!" Josh said, pushing himself up. "Thank you." He said as he looked up at his parents, smiling slightly. He had been so worried about telling his two dads what was going on, but really... he had no reason to be worried about telling them this. He was just thankful that his parents only wanted to help him and make his life a little better.

"You don't have to thank us, we're your parents," Dan said.

"And just remember one thing-" Phil said as he looked down at his son. "Be yourself."

Josh took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay." He said.

Phil gave him a smile before he grabbed Dan and they walked out of Josh's bedroom.

"That went better than I expected," Dan said once he shut Josh's door.

"Yeah... let's just hope we can find Josh a new and better school," Phil said.

"Oh we will... trust me." Dan said, smiling as he looked up at his husband.


End file.
